E.l.f. Cosmetics returns to TikTok with original song, dance challenge

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Dive Brief:

E.l.f. Cosmetics is returning to TikTok with another dance challenge, this time to promote its Poreless Putty Primer to put on before applying makeup. The #elfvanishingact challenge asks TikTok users to show how the product can help make anything disappear, such as hair roots, dirty dishes or blemishes, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.

The dance challenge includes an original song called "Vanishing Act" performed by recording artist M. Maggie. The track was developed by Movers+Shakers, the creative agency that helped create the "Eyes. Lip. Face." song for E.l.f.'s first dance challenge that went viral on TikTok last fall.

E.l.f. is promoting the dance challenge with Romina Gafur, the TikTok celebrity with more than 8.6 million followers who rose to fame on predecessor app Musical.ly. She will give away free products to TikTok users who join the challenge at E.l.f.'s @elfyeah account, per the announcement.

Dive Insight:

E.l.f.'s latest dance challenge on TikTok is further affirmation that the cosmetics brand has found a winning formula of combining original music, recording artists and social influencers to engage TikTok's audience. The brand's first TikTok video released in October has since racked up 5.2 billion views among users who have watched videos that use the hashtag or original soundtrack. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the brand in March remixed the song to emphasize personal hygiene.

E.l.f.'s campaigns indicate the importance of creating original music — rather than licensing a song from a publisher — for TikTok to help carve out a more memorable brand identity on the platform, which has an extensive catalog of song clips, sound effects and user-generated audio for people to share in their videos. Creating music helps to engage younger consumers who are more elusive to traditional marketing methods, a strategy that has been adopted by Mountain Dew, Dove, Oreo and Expensify, among other brands.

The E.l.f. campaign is the second one to launch this week that features the creative input from Movers+Shakers in creating an original song. Movie studio Warner Bros. worked with the agency in a branded dance challenge on TikTok to promote the video-on-demand release of the animated feature "Scoob!" The #ScoobDance video features an original music track and Jalaiah Harmon, the 14-year-old girl who became an overnight sensation on TikTok with her "Renegade" dance, showing off her latest moves with cartoon dog Scooby Doo.